Apple Gets Four Major Allies In Fight Against Qualcomm

With Qualcomm becoming increasingly confident that it can twist Apple’s arm with the lawsuit between the two companies, the chip maker just got brought down to earth. Four more companies have come out and started accusing Qualcomm of violating anti-trust laws. As it turns out, the chip maker actually brought this down on itself by being a little too overzealous at hitting that lawsuit button.

This all started when Qualcomm apparently thought it was fine to bully companies that were making parts for the iPhone, Reuters reports. It would seem that the chip making giant judged the four companies guilty by simply working with Apple. Then again, it could be about the license fees that the suppliers have stopped paying.

In any case, the companies in question are Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Wistron Corp, Compal Electronics Inc, and Pegatron Corp. Together, they filed a counter lawsuit against Qualcomm on Tuesday in direct response to being sued by the technology giant last May. The main point of the suit is the accusation that Qualcomm is in violation of two sections of the US anti-trust law, the Sherman Act.

According to the four companies’ lawyer, Theodore J. Boutrous, the chip maker dug its own grave by basically lumping the brands with Apple out of spite. It’s really no surprise that they decided to fight back.

"Qualcomm has confirmed publicly that this lawsuit against our clients is intended to make a point about Apple and punish our clients for working with Apple,", Boutrous said. "The companies are bringing their own claims and defenses against Qualcomm."

What really makes things worse for the one common enemy of these companies is the fact that Apple is reaching into its deep pockets to fund everything, The Wall Street Journal reports. In addition, the iPhone maker is looking to combine all of the lawsuits into one unified front against Qualcomm.